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Company Snapshot

Oscar de la Renta was an American fashion designer, particularly known for his red carpet gowns and evening wear. He became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers to dress Jacqueline Kennedy.

Since De la Renta's passing in October 2014, Peter Copping has taken over as creative director of the brand, showing his first Fall 2015 runway collection in Paris.

De la Renta was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to a Dominican mother with Spanish and Italian heritage, and a Puerto Rican father. He quickly became interested in the world of fashion design and began sketching for leading Spanish fashion houses, which soon led to an apprenticeship with Spain's most renowned couturier, Cristóbal Balenciaga. Later, de la Renta left Spain to work as a couture assistant at Lanvin in Paris.

De la Renta went to work at Arden for two years, until in 1965, when he went to work for Jane Derby and then launched his own label. When Derby died in August 1965 Oscar de la Renta took over the label.

From 1993 to 2002, Oscar de la Renta designed the haute couture collection for the house of Balmain, becoming the first Dominican to design for a French couture house.